Stonehenge The well-known megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain, England, the most wonderful prehistoric relic in that country, now preserved as a national monument. The larger stones are about 18 feet high and weigh about 20 tons apiece. There are two concentric circles; the outer circle, now badly interrupted by breaks and disturbances, being a hundred feet in diameter and consisting of upright stones with horizontal ones across the tops, originally forming a continuous structure. The inner circle has no lintels at present. Within is a horseshoe line of great trilithons and monoliths, and inside that another horseshoe of smaller stones. In the center is a large block called the altar. Outside, facing the altar and the opening of the horseshoes, stand two outer stones, believed by some to mark the place of sunrise at the summer solstice about 1680 BC. Some of the stones, including the altar, were brought from a great distance. Transportation of such heavy stones from such a distance would require great skill and organizing power.
Stonehenge is mentioned in
The Secret Doctrine in connection with traditions of men of great power and large stature. Reference is made to initiate priests from ancient Egypt who traveled by dry land across what is now the British Channel to supervise the building of "menhirs and dolmens, of colossal zodiacs in stone" (SD 2:750). Modern geology places the appearance of the British Channel about 8,000 years ago, so that land communication with the Continent would have been possible till then. The Badarian culture in Lower Egypt shows that 14,000 years ago the people were sufficiently civilized to make good pottery and wear linen.
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